Bella Bella Archives - bc-bog-trotter.com

Staying Cozy

Go to Mexico…. End of blog.

A hospital room with a view. "Cain't beat it with a stick!" Room 8, Bella Bella Hospital looking down Lamma Pass — A hospital room with a view. “Cain’t beat it with a stick!” Room 8, Bella Bella Hospital looking down Lamma Pass

For most us who live in northern climes, especially those of us in coastal areas, we’re here for the season despite our most vibrant fantasies about Southern locations. Some of those who read my last blog, and are here for the winter, have enquired about the air exchanger which I built and installed to help keep old ‘Seafire’ drier.

This was once my business, I’ll try hard to not sound as if I’m trying to sell anyone anything. You can build one of these yourself very inexpensively if you are at all handy.

If you want one for your house, go to Home Hardware Online and type in “Humidex” or dehumidifier. If you have a tiny house, an Rv or a boat you may well have a problem with condensation, mould and /or bad odours. I am a mariner and so I’ll explain this with specific nautical considerations but the same physics apply whether in a picnic cooler or any size or type of home..

First, understand that a boat is designed to keep water out. That design also necessarily works quite well to keep moisture in. Next consider these simple principles:

Warm air rises.

Warm air holds more moisture.

Cooler air is heavier than warmer air and tends to sink.

Moist air is heavier than drier air and tends to sink.

These four facts are what creates all the complexities of global weather.

Within an enclosure, in this case a boat, moist stale air will settle into the lowest areas such as the bilge, lockers and cupboards; anywhere there is inadequate air movement. Soon there are copious amounts of water, mould and slime. Many people try to combat this by using heat sources and wrapping the vessel with plastic. It is the worst thing to do, warm air holds more moisture and drives cool, damp air down into non-ventilated areas. The plastic seals everything. If you walk the docks in wet weather you may notice older boats with hatches partially open. This is passive ventilation. Natural air flow definitely helps keep a boat drier.

I’ll mention the crystals marketed as a means of drying a boat and declare them to be snake oil. Yes, they fill with water extracted from the boat’s atmosphere and appear effective. However for every molecule of water absorbed, one more has been drawn into the already damp interior of the boat. If these desiccants are spilled, there is now a toxic, corrosive mess inside the vessel. Dehumidifiers are expensive, power-hungry and often require constant attention and servicing. The drawing below is from a brochure I designed in my business of building and selling air exchangers. It illustrates how air exchangers work. They are very simple, very effective and require no maintenance.

Here’s how you build one from pieces found in nearly any hardware store. The fan is the key piece and is what many folks call a muffin fan, or a computer fan. They are brushless and use miniscule amounts of power and may be 12 volt DC 120 volt AC as you prefer. Ideally choose one with an outer frame size of 5 or 6 inches. You can also find them quite affordably from several online sources. Now find a plastic box or make one of wood to set the fan inside and make one round opening four inches in diameter on either side. Install a round 4” collar into each opening. You will attach 4” flexible ventilation hose onto either piece of collar.

Just a fan in a box with some flex hose...KEEP IT SIMPLE! — Just a fan in a box with some flex hose…KEEP IT SIMPLE!

I acquired my box from the electrical department at Home Depot. The collars were 2- 4” abs pipe couplers which then were welded firmly to the edges of the holes I’d cut with abs pipe cement. Lead the two wires from the motor out through a small hole you’ve made in the side of the box and connect to a power source. Always use a fuse or circuit breaker. You can include a simple switch and /or a humidistatic switch (Often used with bathroom ceiling fans) to turn the unit on and off automatically at a specific humidity level setting.

A typical "Muffin" Fan — A typical “Muffin” Fan

Make sure the fan is extracting air through the flexible tube from a lowest possible point in the boat and that the fan is positioned as close as possible to the intake source. The fan discharge tube can be led to an existing ventilation cowl or ventilator or simply stick it through a port light. You’ll need a little imagination, but that is part of the fun and satisfaction. Folks often ask how these simple little machines work on a rainy day when the outdoor ambient humidity is very high. The answer is that by moving air into an enclosure it expands. The amount of moisture in the cubic mass does not and so the air becomes drier. You may want to provide a make-up air opening or grill to let the unit better pull the air down into the air exchanger but so long as there is negative pressure (or suction) the results of this little machine should be magic.

There need be only a gentle, quiet constant movement of air to make a noticeable difference. These small units work great in Rv’s as well. Have fun! I’m happy to answer questions.

UNPLUGGED I found this electrical cord on the dock still plugged in on the other end! Sea water and electricity make a poor mix. — UNPLUGGED
I found this electrical cord on the dock still plugged in on the other end! Sea water and electricity make a poor mix.

Ugly Punt Competition Eat your hearts out Bella Bella. I found this one in Nanaimo. Clearly, someone knows exactly what they need. — Ugly Punt Competition
Eat your hearts out Bella Bella. I found this one in Nanaimo. Clearly, someone knows exactly what they need.

UGLY TRUCK A Shearwater . Yes it still runs. Think of the captions: She's almost paid for. Ford Tough. Hydroponic Windshield. Complete with hair bags, Home of the organic mechanic. — UGLY TRUCK
A Shearwater Icon. Yes it still runs. Think of the captions:
She’s almost paid for.
Ford Tough.
Hydroponic Windshield.
Complete with hair bags,
Home of the organic mechanic.

The elegant punt. a clever local has used a fish tote and a truck canopy into a wheelhouse . Glass windows and an opening windshield with wiper must look real good,from inside, on a snotty day like today. — The elegant punt. A clever local has turned a fish tote and a truck canopy into a wheelhouse . Glass windows and an opening windshield with wiper must fine,from inside, on a snotty day like today.

Good old CBC Radio occasionally has an outstanding story. Last week, in the wake of Fidel Castro’s death, an interview with his sister, Juanita, was aired. She had joined him in the revolution but after it had succeeded she abandoned him and fled the country. She accused him of betraying the democratic ideals of the revolution and of founding a new dictatorship as cruel and insidious as that of Batista’s. Living in Florida she was also ostracized by her fellow Cuban refuges. She had not seen her brother in fifty-two years. For the last two days, CBC has been off-air; storm damaged we suppose.

A Big Sniff. We all know bears can't read. Right? — A Big Sniff.
We all know bears can’t read. Right?

Another tragic story, to me, came from Ocean Falls; a few miles up the inlet from here. This community is the site of a former company town built around a paper mill there. The entire location is abandoned with only a few fringe-characters clinging to life in this macabre setting. Two young cougars had been allowed to frequent the town site and after they’d killed a seal on a dock it was decided they had become too familiar with the small community to not be considered a hazard. Conservation officers were called and the beautiful cats were shot. I make no judgement on this story, I don’t know the details. It does seem interesting that almost invariably, when raw nature and civilization interface, the creatures which conservation officers are sworn to protect, will likely be shot.

Hanging Bear...the legend! That's one helluva lawn ornament. In for the winter in the carpenter shop. — Hanging Bear…the legend!
That’s one helluva lawn
ornament. In for the winter in the carpenter shop.

Hey hey, Hey hey Bang! Some wit has expressed their regard for the Great Bear Rain Forest. — Hey hey, Hey hey Bang!
Some wit has expressed their regard for the Great Bear Rain Forest.

I have written this blog while sitting in my room in the Bella Bella Hospital. The view is spectacular. It is easy to imagine that I’m in a grand hotel except for the tubes and wires. It’s more heart trouble and it ain’t no fun. I’m being shipped to Vancouver next week for treatment, another session of electrically stopping and restarting my heart. I should soon know how to do this myself by now. The staff here are wonderful and have helped ease me through a grim ordeal. As night began to fall and the few buildings on Denny Island which I could see began to light up, it was dramatic to realize what a wilderness we live in. Just miles and miles of miles and miles. So few people. Then the wind-driven sleet and rain slammed onto the window and shrieked under the eves. Isn’t it funny? I used to pass here regularly on the tugs. I once started a story called “how many shades of blue.” Now here I am, sitting in the biggest, bluest building in town watching tugs and barges go by.

A northbound tug in Lamma Pass. It is a view of how I first discovered Bella Bella sliding by the wheelhouse windows. The R. W. Large Hospital was the biggest building on the foreshore. it still is.

Much later I’ve finally been allowed to go, with a pocket full of pills and instructions for a hospital in Vancouver next week. I stand alone on the sea bus dock waiting for the last boat back to Bella Bella. It is very dark and a penetrating wind tears into my no matter where I seek shelter. My wife is tending to family business on the other side of the planet. I have not felt so cold, bleak, hungry and alone in fifty years. Dark memories crowd into my head. Finally back on the boat I arrive to hear the gale alarm bleating. It certainly is an ugly night. Before dawn, two parked helicopters will be blown about and smashed into each other. I make a mug of tea and turn on the radio to sit and defrag a little. I learn that Andrew Sachs has just died. He was 86. He played Manuel on the BBC Series ‘Fawlty Towers.’ I smile as I remember him and his famous line.

“Que?”

The Real Thing Surf Bird, Prince Rupert. Wooden hull, aluminum topsides. A true beauty passing by. — The Real Thing
Surf Bird, Prince Rupert.
Wooden hull, aluminum topsides. A true beauty passing by.

Tough Bird Edgar the Eagle sits in the early morning rain, inches from death in the power lines, looking as bedraggled as I feel. There's a long winter ahead. — Tough Bird
Edgar the Eagle sits in the early morning rain, inches from death in the power lines, looking as bedraggled as I feel. There’s a long winter ahead.

“ The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honours the servant and has forgotten the gift.”

…Albert Einstein

Fraggle Rock

BACK OFF DUDE! Guardian totem of Bella Bella islet, sacred burial ground of the Heiltsuk Nation — BACK OFF DUDE!
Guardian totem of Bella Bella Islet, sacred burial ground of the Heiltsuk Nation

My new life here on Denny Island is proving to be more than a bit enigmatic. There are times when, with my twisted humour in full swing, I rename it Fraggle Rock. The big challenge is dealing with all my fellow citizens, and yes, I am well aware that I am now one of the denizens. (how’s that for a clever pun?) The people here can be divided into three groups. There are those who have lived here their entire lives, they may even be second generation locals. The second group is comprised of folks like me, who have come here for something different or because, like me, they don’t quite fit into the sensibilities of urban life. The third group are the indigenous people whose ancestors have lived here for millennia, the Heiltsuk Nation.

Denny Island was once the site of the original native community, Old Bella Bella. In front of that abandoned village lies Bella Bella Island, a sacred burial islet guarded by a fierce totem.

None of us non-natives dare set foot there and rightly so. Across the waters of Lamma Pass sits the present community of Bella Bella and Waglisla. They are complete with public wharf, general store, police station, school and hospital. That’s not much; but it is enough to cover basic needs and proof that the human race can survive very nicely without institutions like Walmart and MacDonalds; believe it or not. There are airfields on both Campbell Island to serve Bella Bella and here on Denny Island. There are also, of course, float planes to charter and BC Ferries provides a very expensive service to Port Hardy. Return airfares to any place out of here exceed fares to Europe. Life here without a boat is, for me, unimaginable.

Murphy, Shearwater greater, dog-and child sitter, and guardian of the Hodge Podge store. — Murphy, Shearwater greeter, dog-and child sitter, and guardian of the Hodge Podge store.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA — A tribute to Murphy

The Heiltsuk Nation, as described by Wikipedia, is a First Nations Government on the Central Coast of British Columbia. It traditionally occupied about 6000 square miles in this region and evidence shows they have lived here continuously for the past 9,700 years. These are the people who turned Alexander MacKenzie back on his famous trek across Canada. He was able to dip his toe in Pacific waters but was not permitted to travel all the way to the open ocean. Presently they number about 2,200 and 1,400 live in Bella Bella. I have been befriended by some and find most of these good folks dignified and wonderfully gregarious. I can respect their culture and heritage and at the same time feel embraced simply as a fellow human being. I feel none of the racial tension I’ve found in some other first nations communities. I arrived here just as the federal report on Native Residential Schools was released. Coincidentally I just finished reading ‘The Inconvenient Indian’ by Thomas King. I recommend this book as a candid and articulate overview of the injustices our indigenous people have endured and often continue to. The balance achieved between the native community here and the white population, I think, is a good example of successful human interaction.

Denny Island is a great rocky island named in 1866 by the British Captain Pender for a Lieutenant Denny. There’s no information about what he’d done to deserve the honour although the British, like other colonizers, loved naming new places after themselves. The forest that grows here is ragged but thick and ancient. There is not enough soil for a larger forest to take root and the island, because of the hard rock base and the copious rain, is covered by cedar swamps, stunted forest, and small lakes. As the second world war advanced into rampant paranoia of a Japanese invasion on the West Coast, the Canadian military performed a major engineering feat. They carved a seaplane base out of solid granite in very short time. Number 9 Squadron operated here between 1941 and 1944.

The Orifice! The engine shop where I work is in the right hand corner of the old hangar. This phot was taken at approximately the corner of the second hangar, long burned-down. On the concrete apron between the two, I can imagine the parked flying boats, men in blue marching to brass band music, shouldered Lee Enfields and a sense of tension as fog swirls over the roof tops. — The Orifice! The engine shop where I work is in the right hand corner of the old hangar. This photo was taken at approximately the corner of the second hangar, long burned-down. On the concrete apron between the two, I can imagine the parked flying boats, men in blue marching to brass band music, shouldered Lee Enfields and a sense of tension as fog swirls over the roof tops.

That something this large could be conceived, built and abandoned in such a short time is a wonderful example of human genius and industry. It also begs the question about why such endeavour can so seldom be employed for peaceful means. The base was never manned by more than a thousand people but it gave a presence in this wilderness from which our waters could be patrolled and from which attacks from invading vessels could be repelled with force. Originally there were two large hangars which supported a squadron of Stranraer biplane amphibians and then Canso and Catalina flying boats. It is that aviation heritage which, in part, drew me here.

My Little bomb shelter in the woods. Entrance to one of the old bomb shelters, a great place to practise graffiti art and smoke a joint! — My Little bomb shelter in the woods.
Entrance to one of the old bomb shelters, a great place to practise graffiti art and smoke a joint!

After the war, the base was sold as part of the war assets liquidation program. Andrew Widsten and his wife bought the development and the Shearwater Marine Group was born.

Denny Island Old Growth Forest. STRUTH! You don't have to be big to be old. With not enough soil and too much water, this is what happens in many areas of primordial forest here on the raincoast. — Denny Island Old Growth Forest. STRUTH! You don’t have to be big to be old. With not enough soil and too much water, this is what happens in many areas of primordial forest here on the raincoast.

Drought in the bog, it's apparently unheard of in these parts but this is the year. — Drought in the bog, it’s apparently unheard of in these parts but this is the year.

PULL UP, PULL UP! A view of the Western end of the Denny Island Airstrip. Never a view you want to see from the cockpit. — PULL UP, PULL UP!
A view of the Western end of the Denny Island Airstrip. Never a sight you want to see from the cockpit.

The bomber. A Pacific Coastal Airlines Grumman Goose. A classic aircraft form the '30s, poetry in motion. — The bomber.
A Pacific Coastal Airlines Grumman Goose. A classic aircraft from the ’30s, poetry in motion.

Approximately midway between Port Hardy and Prince Rupert it is a logical stopping point for fuel and servicing. It is located in the middle of some of the world’s best sport salmon fishing and that is certainly no liability. BC Ferries offers an infrequent service here and Shearwater itself provides a barge service to link this base and surrounding small communities to the outside world. Now Craig Widsten maintains the dynasty as a second generation entrepreneur. I can only imagine the challenges and logistics of successful commerce out of the mainstream.

Beyond Spiller Channel. a view Westward from the airfield. — Beyond Spiller Channel. A view Westward from the airfield.

My neighbour. perfect Pacific Northwest year-round liveaboard cruising vessel. — My neighbour. A perfect Pacific Northwest year-round liveaboard cruising vessel.

Hooterville Sunset. My home moorage for the time being. The light here can be magic.

The Root Source A twisted piece of yellow cedar, perfect for a bowsprit cap. — The Root Source
A twisted piece of yellow cedar, perfect for a bowsprit cap.

Fitted to the bowsprit, ready for the carver to work his magic.

I’m presently enduring a weird sort of flu to which many newcomers apparently succumb for a couple of weeks. I miss my previous endeavours restoring old boats and I can’t say I’m enjoying the tedium of being bent over corroded, greasy motors every day. You can never work fast enough and everyone feels they have a priority emergency. There are characters parachuting into your already-overloaded daily agenda with things they try to demand be attended immediately. There also is an issue of bringing in the correct parts from far-off suppliers in a timely and affordable manner. Coordinating the local air service with the water taxis can be a bit challenging as well. It certainly ain’t dull and I drag myself back to the sanctuary of my boat at the end of each day feeling like a very weary old sod.

Value-Added Forestry This sawmill produces beautiful cedar lumber from beach-combed logs. — Value-Added Forestry
This sawmill produces beautiful cedar lumber from beach-combed logs.

Blurry, my friend the red squirrel. he's very hard to photograph, he moves around so quickly. — Blurry, my friend the red squirrel. He’s very hard to photograph, he moves around so quickly.

Shearwater Gym, the big yellow punching bag. It is actually a helicopter water bag used for fighting forest fires.

Roughing it. how the poor folks come to fish.. The Shearwater helipad, often a very busy place. — Roughing it. How the poor folks come to fish… The Shearwater helipad, often a very busy place.

Shearwater's main artery The freight barge and ferry ramp. — Shearwater’s main artery.
The freight barge and ferry ramp.

The rather good, the not so bad, and the very ugly. Shearwater "Hobo" dock. — The rather good, the not so bad, and the very ugly.
Shearwater “Hobo” dock.

Don'tcha buy no ugly boat! Local "Punts" not pretty but very handy. — Don’tcha buy no ugly boat! Local “Punts” not pretty but very handy.

I’ve moved ‘Seafire’ from the transient work dock, called the “Hobo” dock to the employee’s moorage which I’ve decided to name Hooterville. Things are a bit rustic but it is sheltered and offside from the din and dust of a very busy shipyard. Wi-Fi and cell service are marginal but there are solutions coming. My first pay cheque has hit the bank and of course it’s a fraction of what I need but life is an adventure and we’ll stay the course. Meanwhile the weather is generally clear and warm with a minimum of biting insects… although the horse flies are very friendly indeed. Today’s blog is again more of a photo essay than any sort of diatribe. I look forward in future blogs to sharing anecdotes about local history, local characters and points of interest, all the while striving to get this old boat to a latitude with indigenous palm trees.

The wharfinger's shack at dawn — The wharfinger’s shack at dawn

Tide-locked. Low slack at the dock. — Tide-locked.
Low slack at the dock.

Cornerstone of the planet. A view eastward in gunboat Pass...or is it somewhere in Scotland? — Cornerstone of the planet.
A view eastward in gunboat Pass…or is it somewhere in Scotland?

Red-Headed Whoopers Beautiful in flight, incredibly noisy upon landing — Red-Headed Whoopers
Beautiful in flight, incredibly noisy upon landing and big enough to peck your eyes out…while standing!

Recycling. fresh water returning to the sea. — Recycling.
Fresh water returning to the sea.

“The cure for anything is saltwater.

Sweat, tears, or the sea.”… Isak Dineson